The interdealer always wins

The uptick in trading volumes since the subprime blowout has meant big profits for interdealer brokers.

Playing in the financial markets tends to be a zero-sum game, which is to say that one guy's profit is another guy's loss. But there have been few obvious winners from the subprime turmoil.

Among that select group are the interdealer brokers who take a margin for executing trades on behalf of securities dealers. As the investment banks continue to admit ever-greater losses, profits at the main interdealers are all up thanks to the big increases in trading volumes.